Rumer Has It
by Arina Ketchum
Summary: Sequel to "The More, The Better". Arina arrives at Mt. Moon and meets someone who has *very* different ideas about Pokemon training than Arina does!
1. Chapter 1

Rumer Has It  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"So this is Mount Moon, huh?" I said to myself as I stared upwards. I had arrived at Mt. Moon several days after leaving Pewter City and earning a Boulder Badge from Karen, the Pewter City Gym Leader.  
  
"Huh, doesn't look too bad, a day's trek at most." I continued, looking down at my map, and starting to walk toward the entrance.  
  
"Clefairy?"  
  
I looked to my right and saw a pink little animal standing near a group of rocks.  
  
"It's a Clefairy!" I almost shouted. "Time to capture it. Go Rattata!" I threw Rattata's Pokeball out and my Pokemon appeared. "Rattata, tackle attack!"  
  
"Clefairy!" the Clefairy cried and ran into Mt. Moon's tunnel entrance.  
  
"Hey, wait!" I cried. "Let's go!"  
  
"Rattata!"  
  
We ran in and found the tunnel to be almost completely dark, save for the sunlight at the entrance.  
  
"Hang on, I've got a flashlight." I knelt and took my backpack off. It took me a few minutes to search around my backpack, but I was finally successful. "There we go." I said as I flicked on the switch.  
  
"Ratta." Rattata said as we started walking again.  
  
"Yeah, it is sort of spooky." I agreed waving my light around, my backpack slung over one shoulder. I waved the light up to the roof of the tunnel and gasped. "Zubats!" I switched off the light. "We don't want to disturb them; we'll catch one at sunset. Do you smell that Clefairy anywhere?"  
  
"Rat." (No.)  
  
"Darn it, I want my Clefairy!" I cried.  
  
"Rattata." (Sorry.)  
  
"For what? You didn't do anything."  
  
"Rattata-Rat." (I feel guilty anyway.)  
  
"Well, don't."  
  
"Ratta-Ratta-Ratta." (I still feel guilty.)  
  
I sighed. "Come on." My foot hit a rock and I yelped in pain.  
  
"Geodude?" A voice in the dark said sleepily.  
  
"What?" I fumbled for my flashlight and swung it in front of me when I turned it on. A Geodude hovered in front of me, looking rather annoyed.  
  
"Uh oh. I must have kicked this Geodude. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just didn't see you."  
  
Apparently an apology wasn't enough. The Geodude picked up a boulder next to it and narrowed its glance at us.  
  
"Run, Rattata, back to the entrance!" I cried and turned to run, and in my haste, tripped on my shoelace. The flashlight went out as I hit the floor.  
  
"GEODUDE!" Geodude yelled and I felt the rock whiz by my head.  
  
"Keep running Rattata!" I yelled as I scrambled to start running again. The Geodude was picking up more rocks behind me and throwing them.  
  
Left foot. Right foot. Keep running; don't stop Arina. You're almost there, DON'T STOP!  
  
"Geodude!" The Geodude was right behind me. I saw a glint of light in front of me - the entrance! I leapt outside onto the green grass. The bright sun blinded the Geodude and it slunk back into the dark cave.  
  
"Oh man, I didn't think we'd make it." I panted. "Rattata, you ok?"  
  
"Rat-Rat." (Think so.) Poor thing was flat on its stomach, worn out.  
  
"What's the big idea?" A voice, female, cried from the mountain.  
  
Rattata and I looked at each other, then back at the entrance. A brown- haired girl, wearing a simple, but shabby, white sleeveless dress, came out, looking angry. Her hair was pulled back into a hasty ponytail, and she was barefoot and had to be at least 9 years older than me.  
  
"I asked you a question," she stated in a hard, demanding tone. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Um, trying to get through Mt. Moon."  
  
"Wrong." she tossed her head angrily. "You're trying to catch Pokemon." she pointed an accusing finger at me.  
  
"Um, well, yeah, that's my job as a Pokemon trainer." I answered, a bit stiffly. What was this girl getting at?  
  
"I thought as much." She stuck her nose up in the air haughtily. "You disgust me."  
  
"HUH?! Now wait a minute -"  
  
"Your kind are all the same," she continued. "You chase Pokemon, you terrorize them and drag them away from their homes and stuff them into little Pokeballs. And that's not even the worst part. *Then* you make them fight so you can get your little badges and your glory."  
  
"That's not true!" I shouted angrily.  
  
"Oh? Then how would you define it?" she crossed her arms in front of her.  
  
I looked down at Rattata. "I'm friends with all my Pokemon. If they don't want to get in the Pokeballs, they don't have to. I wouldn't make them do anything they don't want to, ever, and I always give them credit for the battles they win. Even if they lose, I'm still proud of them for trying."  
  
She turned away. "Still you terrorize other Pokemon until they can't fight back.  
  
"WHEN?!"  
  
"Look at this poor Clefairy I'm holding. It's all tuckered out running away from you. If you'd found it before I had, this little one would be stuck in a Pokeball for the rest of its life." She glared at me. It would have died from loneliness. Clefairy, like all Pokemon, belong in the wild, not in Pokeballs or in laboratories.  
  
"But how are we supposed to learn from Pokemon if we don't capture and study them?  
  
She started to walk away, but glanced over her shoulder at me, "That's the point. You're not supposed to," then disappeared behind a boulder.  
  
"Hey! Wait!" I ran after her, but when I reached the rock, she was gone.  
  
"O-k." I raised my brow at her sudden disappearing act. Figuring she was out of my way for now and had finished preaching to me, I went back to Rattata. "Whoever she was, she's gone now."  
  
"Did she really mean what she said?" Rattata asked. "Do trainers only use us for battles or experiments?"  
  
I sighed and sat down next to Rattata. I took off my Pokeball belt and let out my other Pokemon.  
  
"We heard what was said." Bulbasaur announced in its own language.  
  
"I'm afraid what she said was true." I nodded solemnly. Some trainers use Pokemon only for battling or for research. But I'm not that kind of trainer. I would never do anything to harm you or force you to do anything you didn't want to."  
  
"Like making us come with you on this journey." Squirtle said in suggestive tone.  
  
"Squirtle, you know I intend to keep my promise to you. As soon as we reach Pallet again, I'll head back to Viridian Forest and release you in the pond."  
  
"Arina's been good to us! She saved me from drowning the day we met, even though I hadn't been very nice to her." Bulbasaur announced.  
  
"And she saved Pika-baby's life when we tried to have it for lunch," High Dive, my Spearow, crowed.  
  
"I wonder if it tastes good with a broken leg..." Pidge the Pidgey joked, but High Dive wacked it with one wing.  
  
"Rattata, what do you think of me?" I asked gently.  
  
"Are you kidding? You caught me when my back was turned."  
  
I frowned. "I know. Not a great start I admit."  
  
"But you make the best food I've ever tasted and you're much nicer than my last trainer. Now I get fed three meals a day and I don't have to hunt for food. There's no way I'd leave you."  
  
I smiled. "Thank you, Rattata. Highdive? Pidge?"  
  
"If you let us out at night to sleep in trees and give us plenty to eat, then we'll consider staying."  
  
"As long as Pika-baby isn't on your mind, it's a deal." I agreed. "Weedle?"  
  
"I'm not going anywhere." Just like that, no explanations.  
  
I turned to Squirtle. "I know you're not convinced I'm a half-way decent person, let alone trainer, but there isn't a body of water around here for you to escape to. If you want to leave soon, then wait until we get past Mt. Moon and into Cerulean City. My aunts run the Cerulean Gym and they have a huge aquarium there. I'll bet you could meet some nice Squirtles and my aunts wouldn't train you, since they've plenty of other water Pokemon to work with. Or, when we reached Vermillion City, I could release you at the harbor. Either way, you won't make it to those places without transportation, and I have water to give you a shower." I showed it my canteen.  
  
Squirtle looked downhearted all the same. "I'll think about it." it said and pushed the button on its Pokeball to return.  
  
"But-" Squirtle had been sucked in by the time I tried to protest. Looking up at the sky, I sighed inwardly. "I'd hoped to get through Mt. Moon before nightfall, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen, thanks to that distraction."  
  
"Sorry, Arina." Rattata said instantly, looking ashamed.  
  
"Quit saying you're sorry." I cried in exasperation. "It's not your fault, it's that girl."  
  
"Oh, sor-" Rattata was cut off by my glare.  
  
I gave the area one last glance before turning to my Pokemon. "Let's set up camp before it gets too dark to see."  
  
After dinner, Squirtle, who hadn't eaten, came to me, demanding the promised shower.  
  
"Does this mean you're staying?" I asked hopefully.  
  
"I'm still thinking about it."  
  
That was the best I could hope for. I wouldn't force Squirtle to stay, that wasn't right, and if I did force it, I'd be going back on my promise I'd made to all my Pokemon. Broken promises were hardly mendable.  
  
Squirtle loved the shower, to say the least, although it said the shower was just, "ok".  
  
"Hey, where are you going? You need to dry off so you don't catch cold overnight." I cried as Squirtle walked away.  
  
"But Squirtle's live in water, dum-dum."  
  
"Hey, now, you're pushing it, Squirtle." I warned. "If you don't want to dry off, don't come crying to me when you're sick."  
  
"Squirtle-Squirt." (I won't.)  
  
Later that evening, all of my Pokemon had settled down for the night, and I was sitting up, watching the fire slowly die. Squirtle had refused any more conversation or coddling, and returned to its Pokeball. What *was* I going to do with that Pokemon for the rest of the trip?  
  
"Rattata?" Rattata came up beside me.  
  
"Hi sweetie." I picked it up and put it in my lap. "Not tired yet?"  
  
"Rat."  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
"Rat."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
So Rattata talked while I listened. It had belonged to another trainer before I'd come along - a cruel one. One who had starved Rattata if it lost battles, who called it terrible names all the time, especially during training, like "lazy" and 'stupid'. Rattata had done its best to please, but couldn't take the abuse anymore, and one night, ran off. It had been wandering around foraging for food, just barely surviving every day after that - until I caught it.  
  
"And that's why you're sorry all the time." I concluded. "You were always saying sorry to your old trainer. But I don't think you're lazy, or slow, or anything like that. Is that why you didn't want to battle in Pewter? Because you thought I'd get angry if we lost?"  
  
"Rat." Rattata nodded.  
  
"Rattata, I want you to know right now that I'm *not* like your old trainer. Not even close. And if I ever meet up with him, you'll have to hold me back from beating him up and calling him lazy and slow."  
  
"Ratta..." (Maybe...) "Ratta-Rat-Rat-Ratta-Rat..." (If he doesn't get you first...)  
  
I balled my fist. "I won't let anyone hurt my friends. I swear it."  
  
* * * *  
  
She looked down at the sleeping girl from the branch she was sitting on, the Clefairy in her arms. Her Pokemon slept all around her sleeping bag, except for the Squirtle, who'd gone back into its Pokeball, and the two bird Pokemon, who slept in the trees.  
  
"Let's do some investigating Clefairy."  
  
"Clefairy?"  
  
"We'll be alright," she jumped to the ground. She crept up to the girl's clothes, grabbed her belt, and darted away again behind a rock. She opened a Pokeball and Squirtle appeared in front of her.  
  
"Squirtle?" (Who are you?)  
  
"A friend. I heard you talking to your trainer, and I think what she did was wrong. She had no right to take you away from your pond without your permission. I want to help you and bring you home."  
  
Squirtle was stunned. "Squirtle-Squirtle!" (No way!)  
  
"I'm a woman of my word."  
  
"Right now?"  
  
"As soon as your old trainer exits Mt. Moon, we'll hit the road for Viridian Forest."  
  
"Squirtle!"  
  
"You're quite welcome."  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"Who?" Squirtle asked, "Arina?"  
  
"Any last name?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Does she have a Pokedex?"  
  
"Yeah, in her backpack."  
  
"I'm going to get it. I want to know who she is." the girl said, crawled over to Arina and replaced the Pokeball belt on the ground. She rummaged though her pack quietly, finding Dextra by touch. She returned to the spot behind the boulder where Squirtle was. She carefully opened Dextra's front panel and Dextra cheerfully announced. "I'm Dextra, the female Pokedex created by Professor Gary Oak. I belong to Arina Ketchum, 135 Pidgey Way, Pallet Town. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."  
  
She closed the Pokedex silently. "Arina Ketchum...the Pokemon Master's daughter, the worst offender of them all." She looked at Squirtle. "Thank you Squirtle, this has been more than helpful. Get some sleep, and I'll wake you when we're ready to go."  
  
End Chapter 1 


	2. Chapter 2

Rumer Has It  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Squirtle!" I yelled. "Where are you?"  
  
I had woken up early this morning to pack my stuff and feed my Pokemon, and to my dismay, had found Squirtle gone.  
  
"Squirtle! Come on, stop hiding!" I cried.  
  
"Spearow!"  
  
"Pidgey!"  
  
"Weedle!"  
  
"Rattata!" All my Pokemon called out as one for the water Pokemon.  
  
"Squirtle!" I cried one last time. Sinking to my knees in despair, my Pokemon flocked around me. "It must have run off." I said sadly, "Even after I promised I'd bring him back."  
  
"Pidge-Pidge." (It's not your fault.)  
  
"If you're wondering where Squirtle is," a familiar voice said - and as I looked up I realized it was that strange girl again, sitting on the boulder she'd disappeared behind yesterday, "you can stop wondering. I set it free this morning."  
  
"YOU WHAT?!" I gasped angrily.  
  
"No need to thank me. Squirtle's happy back at its pond, that's thanks enough."  
  
"I don't believe you! How dare you do this! You've stolen my Pokemon!"  
  
"Squirtle wasn't yours to begin with. None of your Pokemon are. They are wild animals that have the right to stay free."  
  
"What gives you the right to decide what Pokemon want?"  
  
"Almost 1.2 million Pokemon are captured and evolved per year." She jumped off her rock and started walking toward me. "Almost a quarter die in captivity from depression, starvation, or abuse. My setting yours free helps reduce the number of fatalities."  
  
"You're crazy!" I cried as I picked my Pokeballs from my belt. "Rattata, Weedle, Spearow, Pidgey, Bulbasaur, return!" Then I looked at the girl. "You'll never get the chance to free another of my Pokemon. As soon as I get to Cerulean, I'll have Officer Jenny arrest you for stealing Squirtle."  
  
"Where's your proof?"  
  
"In my Pokedex. My Pokedex lists all the Pokemon I've caught since I started training."  
  
"Oh, you mean this thing?" The girl pulled out Dextra from her dress pocket, to my absolute horror. "This is a nice piece of equipment Professor Gary Oak cooked up." She tossed it to me. "Much better than my old one." here she pulled out her own.  
  
She opened it and it chirped merrily, "This Pokedex belongs to trainer Rumer Herbe. If lost or stolen it cannot be replaced. In the event of the Pokedex breaking, contact-" and with a click, she shut it again.  
  
"You hypocrite!" I cried. "You say you're trying to save all Pokemon and yet you're a trainer yourself!"  
  
Rumer snorted. "Don't be stupid. I gave up training a long time ago, after I saw a Pokemon nearly killed by its trainer for not winning a Gym match. Back then, when I was ten, all I ever thought about was myself, how I was going to be world famous for catching all the Pokemon I could. But when I saw that Charmander being hit by its own trainer, something came over me and I never trained a day after that."  
  
I gulped. "What happened to the Charmander?"  
  
"Brain-damaged for life. It stayed at the Pokecenter I took it to. It'll never fight again, but it's a help to Nurse Joy, since that Pokecenter didn't have a Chansey."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience as a trainer," I said softly, but my throat tightened and I raised my voice as I continued, "but that still doesn't give you the right to touch my Pokemon, and you still haven't changed my mind about being a trainer. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Pokemon to catch." Head held high, I marched into the entrance of Mt. Moon.  
  
"Good luck trying to find any Pokemon here willing to leave their natural habitat!" Rumer call after me. "You'll need it!"  
  
* * * *  
  
"I haven't seen one Pokemon yet. I wonder if Rumer's up to something." I muttered. I'd been in the mountain for hours now, taking detours to see if Pokemon one would pop out. So far I'd been having no luck. If I didn't have my flashlight with me, it would have been black as night in here.  
  
"Those Clefairy must have excellent eyesight if they can bounce around in the dark like this." I muttered. "They'll be a great addition to my journey, presuming I find one, of course."  
  
"Geodude."  
  
I stopped dead in my tracks and shone my flashlight around the tunnel. "I'm imagining things."  
  
"Geodude-dude!"  
  
I did an about-face to see the Geodude I'd tripped over earlier, and it didn't look any happier to see me either.  
  
"Geodude," I began, "let's not do anything rash. What happened back there was an accident."  
  
"Sure, I hear that from every trainer." Geodude said. "Every time people come through here, they trip over me or one of my brothers. We're getting kind of tired of it."  
  
"Honest, I am sorry!"  
  
"No human's that honest!" Geodude began picking up rocks. "See how it feels to get hurt!"  
  
"No, Geodude, PLEASE!" I screamed and covered my face with my arms.  
  
"Squirtle!" a high-pitched voice called and a second later the Geodude hit the wall next to me.  
  
"Come on!" a male voice called to me as he grabbed my arms roughly, helping me stand. "This way!" He led me down the tunnels of rock. After what seemed like hours later, we reached the exit of Mt. Moon. Just like I had started my journey into the mountain, I ran out again and collapsed on the grass, gasping for air.  
  
The boy who had grabbed me was sitting next to me, breathing hard also. "That was too close." he gasped.  
  
I was almost too weak to speak. "I heard a Squirtle..."  
  
"Mine, it stopped the Geodude from attacking you. Squirtle! You ok in there?"  
  
"Squirtle-Squirt-" there was a sudden pause.  
  
"Squirtle!" the boy stood up.  
  
"Wartortle!" The Squirtle had evolved during the run from Mt. Moon, into a cute Wartortle! "War-Wartortle!" it jumped into the boy's arms.  
  
"Congratulations." I said softly.  
  
"Don't you have a Squirtle?" the boy asked as he pushed back his dark mauve bangs.  
  
"I did." I said softly, "but it's gone now."  
  
"Oh, sorry to hear," the boy sat down next to me and held out a free hand. "My name's Jonathan."  
  
"I'm Arina."  
  
"You're a Pokemon trainer?"  
  
"Yeah, attempting to look like a decent one at least. You don't look like a -"  
  
"I'm not. I'm more of a wanderer. If I catch a Pokemon while I'm traveling, that's great, and if I don't, I'm no worse for wear."  
  
"Nice philosophy." I lay back on the grass. "Thank you for saving me, I owe you one."  
  
"No problem. What were you doing to make that Geodude angry?"  
  
"Is being the latest person to trip over it reason enough?"  
  
"Aha. And the lesson you learned there was -"  
  
"Don't go tripping over Geodudes." I answered him.  
  
"Actually, I was going to say 'Don't go into Mt. Moon without a water Pokemon'."  
  
I sighed, and then stood up. "Well, thanks for all you did. I have to get going now."  
  
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" Jonathan stood up as well, recalling his Wartortle to a Pokeball.  
  
I looked around. "I don't think so."  
  
"Your Clefairy. I heard you say you wanted one."  
  
I put my hands on my hips. "Exactly how long have you been in that cave?"  
  
Jonathan shrugged. "Long enough. But if you want a Clefairy, you've got another chance." He nodded to something behind me.  
  
Uncertain, I turned around. Peeking out from a bush was another little pink fluff ball. I became was excited and drew in a happy breath, but instead of the usual screaming hysterically routine, I quietly knelt down and held out my hand. "Hi, little guy." I said.  
  
"Guy? What if it's a girl?" Jonathan teased.  
  
"Clefairy." the little pink ball of cuteness chirped.  
  
"You want to come with me, Clefairy?"  
  
The Clefairy nodded with a smile.  
  
"I have to tell you, I battle Pokemon like most other trainers. Are you prepared to leave home and train with me?"  
  
"Clefairy-Clefairy." (Life's boring here.) "Clef-Fairy-Fairy-Clefairy-Clef- Airy." (I want to meet other Pokemon, like your Squirtle.)  
  
I started. "What do you mean?"  
  
It spoke rapidly in its own language. "The one Rumer is letting go. It changed its mind and wanted to stay with you after it saw you arguing on its behalf this morning."  
  
Again, I was startled. "She said she released Squirtle before that."  
  
"No, while you were in the cave today, she walked the Squirtle home."  
  
I could have burst into tears then. "I don't believe it." I whispered. I stood up stiffly and started walking away in a daze.  
  
"Arina, where are you going?" Jonathan called after me.  
  
I didn't answer. All I wanted to do was be alone. I started walking faster and faster until I broke into a run. My heart felt like it had been shredded. Squirtle had trusted me after all, and that girl had taken my Pokemon away from me, probably lying to it as she had lied to me. She probably wasn't even a trainer, and that story she'd told me was probably made up. But right then I couldn't have cared less. All I wanted to do was run, be as far away from this horrible place and Rumer as I could get.  
  
I heard Jonathan yelling after me, but I didn't stop. In my haze of tears, I stumbled over tree roots, rocks, and then finally, a sleeping Ekans curled up in the middle of the road. I picked myself up into a half- sitting/half-lying down position, as I heard the Ekans rear up, hissing angrily.  
  
I didn't think, didn't care about the consequences then. Grabbing Squirtle's empty Pokeball, I flipped over, tossed it hard at the Ekans, screaming in a hoarse voice, "Pokeball, GO!"  
  
The Pokeball hit the Ekans just as it was about to strike. It turned red and was sucked into the ball. The red and white ball rocked for a moment, but didn't re-open.  
  
I took a few deep breaths and then started laughing hysterically. I grabbed the Pokeball and stood up. I threw my head back and gave another laugh. "I did it! I got one of your precious Pokemon, Rumer! You hear me?"  
  
Rumer clapped as she sat on a boulder nearby. "I congratulate you. You caught Ekans without fighting it. I think that's the cheap way out, but I suppose whatever method works for you despicable Pokemon trainers, you'll use."  
  
I looked down at the Pokeball and immediately felt my stomach flip-flop.  
  
"Go ahead, ask it why it was caught."  
  
Like an obedient child, I tossed the Pokeball to the ground. The Ekans reappeared, looking up at me expectantly. "Master." it hissed.  
  
"Why?" I asked softly. "Why were you caught?"  
  
"Master, you were stronger than me. You showed me how weak I am because you caught me without a battle. With your help now as my trainer, I can become stronger."  
  
"Oh my God." I whispered and backed off a few feet in astonishment.  
  
Jonathan and the Clefairy ran up to me again. "Arina, why'd you run?"  
  
"Oh, and that's another ingenious device the professors of old cooked up. The Pokeball brainwashes the Pokemon to obey its master." Rumer smiled knowingly.  
  
"Arina?" Jonathan was puzzled.  
  
"You're free." I whispered to the Ekans, and started running again.  
  
"Arina!" I heard Jonathan cry.  
  
I refused to stop. Picking on a weak Pokemon, catching them when they were vulnerable - Rumer was right, Pokemon weren't for battles, weren't meant to fight. They were just creatures who wanted to live in peace.  
  
Before I realized it, I had reached the outskirts of Cerulean City, and without bothering to look where I was going, I soon slammed into someone.  
  
"Ow." I moaned as I lay on the ground, "what happened?"  
  
"Are you ok?" The woman whom I'd hit was more concerned with my well-being than hers.  
  
"Yeah, I think so."  
  
"Here, give me your hand." The woman helped me stand, and as I rose to my feet, I realized who was helping me.  
  
"Aunt Daisy?"  
  
"Arina?" Daisy asked in shock. She brushed back my bangs. "It is you! What are you doing here?" She paused and gave me a once over glance. "You've been crying! What's happened?"  
  
I sniffled as I looked behind me. No one had followed me, or if they had, caught up yet. "It's a long story."  
  
"Uh-huh. Most of them are. Let's go home and you can tell me everything."  
  
End Chapter 2 


End file.
